Finding out the Differences

Identification of Koreans in Colonial Korea and Discrimination as Exclusion

Abstract

This article focuses on the production of knowledge regarding the differences between the Japanese and Koreans during Korea's colonization by the Japanese Empire. The information used to identify Koreans as having distinct physical and cultural characteristics was generated for anthropological purposes, specifically to determine the racial origin of the Japanese, and for practical applications in implementing colonial policies on the Korean Peninsula. Korean laborers and their families in Japan faced ethnic discrimination and endured poor working and housing conditions in large cities. Additionally, municipal governments labeled Korean communities as an urban issue requiring resolution by the government. Whenever the distinction between the Japanese and Koreans became blurred, justifications for colonization emerged, ethnic markers were maintained, or Koreans were lumped together with other groups deemed hazardous, so that the differences between the Japanese and Koreans survived.